Des Moines Commute Least Stressful Among U.S. Cities

DES MOINES, IA — Take a few minutes to read this story before you head to the office. After all, Des Moines has one of the shortest work commutes among the nation's busiest cities, the staffing agency Robert Half found.

The company surveyed 27 of the country's biggest cities to find out where the work commute is the longest and the most stressful. Good news for Des Moines: We came in dead last on the stressful list and 26th on length of commute, with only Salt Lake City residents averaging a shorter drive time to work.

The Robert Half survey found that nationwide, the average commute time is 49.1 minutes, while in Des Moines it was 40.94. (Salt Lake City beat us by half a minute.) The longest average commutes occur in Washington, D.C., with 60.42 minutes, San Francisco at 59.2 minutes and Chicago at 58.5 minutes.

Surprisingly, survey respondents did not equate the length of commute with the stress level. Los Angeles, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; and Austin, Texas, took the top three spots for anxiety-inducing commutes.

The Robert Half survey also noted that commute times rank as a top concern among candidates when considering a job offer and the agency recommended employers offer flexible options for employees to keep a positive worker morale — particularly as winter weather and the end of daylight savings time are approaching and those factors can result in longer commutes.

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